Shimla, Jan
2002
Swedish children’s writer Astrid Lindgren—who was best known for her works involving Pippi Longstocking, a freckle-faced red-haired nine-year-old who incarnates every child’s dream of freedom and power—died in Stockholm.
1958
Godtfred Kirk Christiansen, whose father founded the company LEGO in Denmark, filed for a Danish patent (later granted) for a toy building block that became hugely popular around the world.
1955
French politician Nicolas Sarkozy, who served as president of France (2007–12), was born in Paris.
1915
Congress created the U.S. Coast Guard by combining the Revenue Cutter Service with the U.S. Lifesaving Service.
1912
American painter Jackson Pollock, a leading exponent of Abstract Expressionism who received widespread publicity and serious recognition for the radical poured, or “drip,” technique he used to create his major works, was born.
1881
Russian novelist and short-story writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky died in St. Petersburg.
1873
French writer Colette—whose best novels, largely concerned with the pains and pleasures of love, are remarkable for their command of sensual description—was born in Saint-Sauveur-en-Puisaye.
1871
The French capital, Paris, fell following a four-month siege during the Franco-German War.
1813
Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice was published anonymously and enjoyed immediate success, thanks in part to the popularity of the central character, Elizabeth Bennet, who was reportedly Austen’s own favourite among all her heroines.
1457
King Henry VII of England, who succeeded in ending the Wars of the Roses, was born in Pembrokeshire, Wales.
814
Charlemagne, ruler of the Holy Roman Empire, died at Aachen (Germany).
